NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism said that legal action could be taken against the U.S. and Germany as they provide 99% of the Zionist regime’s weapons.
Noting that there are a “very small number” of countries that currently supply arms to the occupying regime, Ben Saul told Anadolu that about 69% of arms and ammunition to Israel are supplied by the U.S., and about 30% by Germany.
“Every country has a duty under international law to ensure that they do not supply weapons to another country where those weapons would be used to commit violations of international humanitarian law,” he stated.
The UN rapporteur added that these are obligations arising from the 1949 Geneva Conventions to ensure that other countries respect international humanitarian law.
Saul noted that the U.S. and Germany play a critical role in keeping Israel’s “war machine” running, as they are the two countries with the most influence to prevent Israeli violations and fulfill the majority of the international community’s demand for an immediate ceasefire.
Describing the crisis in Gaza as “unprecedented in terms of the level of violence and the extent of destruction that has occurred in such a short space of time”, Saul added that the humanitarian situation continues to be “catastrophic”.
He also added that the Zionist regime is trying to dismantle humanitarian work in Gaza by attacking the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main UN agency providing aid to Gaza.
Stressing that “the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has warned of the risk of genocide in Gaza”, and that the Genocide Convention obligates nations to prevent genocide, Saul said that this includes an obligation to refrain from supplying weapons that could contribute to such acts.
“There are lots of sources of international law and unfortunately it seems like the governments of the United States and Germany have not been properly interpreting and fulfilling their international legal obligations,” he said.
Legal action can be taken against the three sides under the law, in national or international courts, he added.